A Princess and Her Saviors
by Rebel Glow
Summary: When Princess Amber is kidnapped, it's up to two unlikely heroes to save her. Meet Patricia and Joy, a pair of royal guards who are determined to save the princess. Along the way, they will encounter bounty hunters, criminals and mysterious hooded men. Will they save the princess? (For HOA One-Shot Day 2014)


**For HOA One Shot Day 2014.**

**A Princess and Her Saviors**

Amber Millington could not decide what dress to wear. The pink dress was right out of a fairy tale, but the blue one was very much in style. She turned to look at Mick Campbell, the prince of the neighboring kingdom, who seemed out-of-place in her girly room. She turned away from the mirror and faced Mick, her expression seriously serious. "What do you think?" She snapped the question like a whip, causing Mick to suddenly snap out of whatever daydream he had been having. He looked at her, awaiting instruction. "Yes, babe?"

Amber rolled her eyes at her future husband's cluelessness. "Well? Pink or blue?"

Her tone was impatient. She held up both dresses so he could get a better look. He seemed...nervous. "You know I'm not good at this fashion stuff, babe," he said, looking from pink to blue in complete and utter confusion. He didn't even see a difference. Amber sighed, then turned back to the mirror for further comparison. She needed to wear the perfect outfit for the big announcement, when the whole world would learn about her engagement to Prince Mick. It may not be an important day for her, but it would be important for the people of both their kingdoms. Their kingdoms had been feuding for quite a while; the marriage of Princess Amber and Prince Mick would end the feud.

* * *

><p>KT Rush was a criminal. There was no other way to put it. She stole, kidnapped, threatened and killed. It was not an admirable existence, but it was better than prostitution, which was her only other option considering her situation.<p>

She would never sink so low as to sell herself. She would hate herself even more than she did now if she did that. Her boyfriend would be disappointed in her as well. So she was a criminal, often hired by wealthier scoundrels to do their dirty work. She was decent at what she did, but she certainly wasn't the talk of the town. In fact, she had really messed up her last job. It was to be expected, she guessed, from a foreign teenage girl.

Maybe it was her age that attracted the man. It could have been the mystery surrounding her life. Whatever the reason her latest client had chosen her of all people, he was here...spouting nonsense, but he was here. "You want me to kidnap the princess?" Her tone was understandably incredulous.

The hooded man didn't react to the interruption. "Yes," he responded. "And then kill her."

KT blinked and didn't respond. This creep wanted her to kill the only child of the king and queen? Impossible. The girl would be too well guarded. Also, this was politics, not business. KT only dealt with business, not politics. There was a difference.

"Well?" The man sounded impatient. KT racked her brain for a response. She had to have a good reason if she turned him down. "I don't know," she muttered. It slipped out; there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"What are you talking about?"

Oh no. Someone was angry now. "Money isn't a problem, I'll pay you well if you accept. Getting past the castle guards isn't a problem; you have that boyfriend of yours to help you. Finding her and killing her isn't a problem; you're good at what you do. What else is there?" Wow, this guy had done his research. He knew about her financial problems and that those problems were the only reason she did this dirty work-to get paid. He knew that KT's boyfriend, Fabian Rutter, helped her get in and out of buildings by forming what he called 'entrance' and 'exit plans'. This hooded guy had even looked at her track record. This was starting to get creepy.

She decided to be brutally honest. "This is politics and you scare me," she answered. Her face didn't betray her emotions. She was good at hiding her true feelings. The guy already knew her feelings, but it would be best to stay strong anyway.

There was a pause. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Suddenly, she felt like meeting in this abandoned bar had been a bad idea. "If you don't do what I want, I'll have to hurt you," the man said. KT's strong mask fell. She now looked as scared as she felt. "And I can't guarantee the safety of that pretty little boyfriend of yours."

KT took a deep breath and stared straight at the hooded figure before her. "He's innocent," she snarled at the man. He tilted his head to the side and the message was clear: he didn't care. Eventually, after a few minutes of careful consideration, she gave in. "I'll do what you want. Just don't hurt Fabian."

KT was staring down at her feet, so she missed the man's sadistic smile. "Good girl."

* * *

><p>Princess Amber strolled through the gardens of the palace often, so she could clear her head. Now, she needed a clear head more than ever. She didn't love Mick, but she had to marry him for the sake of peace in both their kingdoms. War was ugly, at least in Amber's opinion. She had been on the front lines to observe battle once, and it had horrified her. Mick's kingdom and her kingdom had been on the verge of war for years. She wanted to make sure a war never started.<p>

She had practically begged her parents to let her marry Mick. She knew that he was a young, attractive prince who was about her age and she had come up with the idea of a marriage peace treaty between their two kingdoms. Her parents had argued about the economic benefits of wartime, and how many citizens profited from war. Personally, Amber found the idea of profiting from such horrors to be absolutely disgusting. She had won the argument, obviously. Loss of life beats economic benefits every time.

The day of the big engagement announcement was coming up fast. There was so much to do and so much to worry about. Amber appreciated the alone time.

She twitched suddenly when she felt a prick on the side of her neck. Her hand reached for the violated area. There was something sticking out of the side of her neck. She was about to call for the palace guards, who were always nearby, but she collapsed before she could. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a foreign-looking girl in peasant clothes standing over her.

* * *

><p>Patricia Williamson was not expecting to be called into the throne room that afternoon. Her mind had been consumed with bigger things, more important things. Yes, very important...<p>

Her thoughts drifted as she glanced over at her partner, Joy Mercer. They were partners in more than one sense of the word. Firstly, and most importantly, they were partners in the royal guard: a team, sticking together through thick and thin. Secondly, they had been best friends since they started out together a few years ago. And lastly, they were very close. Not like 'friends' or 'teammates', but more like 'soulmates'. At least this was Patricia's opinion.

Joy looked great in her guard uniform. She always looked good. On Patricia, the uniform was hideous.

Joy was shorter than Patricia, her hair was brown instead of red and she was much more beautiful. Her tan skin and large, deep brown eyes just pulled you in and made you want to-

But enough of that. Patricia had other things to think about. Nothing was as important as Joy, but being summoned by the king was a close second. Now, she stood in the throne room next to her partner, at ease. The king was stuck in a meeting, apparently, and he would keep them waiting for a few more minutes until he got out. Patricia couldn't even imagine what he would want them for; they weren't even in the high ranks of guardship.

Speaking of high ranks, there he was. Eddie Miller, one of the guards assigned to the throne room, stood at his post across the room. He was a notorious 'bad boy' and flirt. Once in a while, he would glance over at them and wink. Patricia wrinkled her nose in disgust. Eddie was not her type. First of all, he reminded her too much of herself. Second of all, he was a flirty foreigner. Well, she said 'foreigner' because he had been raised by his mother, who lived in an exotic, faraway land. Eddie had a heavy foreign accent and used a foreign name. His father, the king's advisor and the only reason Eddie got this job after illegally entering the country, was named Eric Sweet. Patricia and the other guards called him Sweetie. Sweetie was constantly trying to get his son to use his given name, Edison Sweet. It never worked. Although, Patricia could see why he wouldn't want to use that name. It was too traditional.

Eddie Miller was very aware that Patricia disliked him, and he knew why: they were too similar. They both loved listening to music, causing trouble and arguing. They especially liked arguing with each other. However, it was obvious that they both had a thing for Joy Mercer and that made them rivals. In Eddie's mind, it was a real shame because Patricia would have made a great girlfriend if it hadn't been for her Joy obsession. He could have had Joy _and _Patricia. What a deal. He glanced at them again and winked. Carefully observing Patricia's reaction, he saw her give him a look that blurred the lines between disgust and disappointment, making one mutant reaction that he couldn't put into words. Joy, on the other hand, smiled at him and gave him a flirty wave. Her white teeth contrasted with her tan skin as he soaked in her lovely, broad smile. There was no doubt that Joy was beautiful; he could understand why Patricia felt so passionate about her friend. Gosh, he wanted Joy. Patricia wasn't bad, either, but she was a lost cause.

A flare of jealousy erupted in Patricia's heart when she saw Joy smile and wave at Eddie. She tried to dismiss it as simply a part of Joy's personality; she was naturally flirty and outgoing. Still, in a way, she felt betrayed.

That was when the king walked in. Patricia and Joy snapped to attention and saluted the well-dressed, grey-haired older gentleman who stood before them. He nodded to the two teenage girls and they stood at ease. Next to the king stood Eddie's father, the king's loyal advisor. He was a nervous and slightly less well-dressed man.

"Williamson, Mercer," he said, calling their names with a troubled expression. "I have some unfortunate news."

"My daughter, Princess Amber Millington, has been kidnapped. We do not believe that she is dead yet, but it's clear that whoever took her intends to harm her because we haven't received any demands. It happened hours ago..." The king's voice trailed off as he became too choked up with emotion. Sweetie patted the other man's back and took over the explanation for his superior. "She was taken from the garden," Sweetie said.

Joy and Eddie stared wide-eyed at the king, while Patricia tried to remain as calm as possible. "What do we have to do with this, sir?"

The king regained his composure and stared straight at Patricia. "We suspect that the kidnapper was young, like yourselves," he explained, "And we believe it takes one to know one, so we summoned our youngest guards for the job."

"What is this job, again, sir?" Joy was still shocked, but the tone of her voice as she asked this question betrayed nothing. Her face, however, spoke for her. She was absolutely in shock. She had been close with Amber, closer than any of the other guards. The only person who Amber was closer to was Nina Martin, a foreign girl who served as the royal sorceress. Nina's job was shrouded in mystery and none of the guards liked her very much. Usually she could be seen following the king or queen around, or possibly, hanging out with Amber. She wasn't there as the king informed them of the situation, so Joy could only assume that Nina was with the queen.

Sweetie spoke again. "We want you to find Amber and save her," he said. Patricia tried not to think about the worst scenario: that the princess was already dead. For all she knew, the princess was alive and well.

More importantly, how in the world were Patricia and Joy going to find Amber? They were guards, not bounty hunters. Still...that gave Patricia an idea. "We'll find your daughter, sir," she said, nodding confidently. Joy flashed Patricia an annoyed and confused glare.

"Oh, and one more thing! It's about my daughter's relationship status. We believe it's why she was taken. My daughter was engaged."

* * *

><p>"I'm going to be married, you know!" Amber snapped, glaring at the girl who was responsible for her recent misfortune. She shivered in the cool air of the tiny apartment and pointed an accusing finger. "I have to get back to the castle or else I can't announce my engagement! This is all your fault!"<p>

The dark-skinned, foreign kidnapper looked around nervously. "Please, be quiet," she said fearfully. KT Rush knew that the walls of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend were very thin and the neighbors were nosy. "Why should I be quiet?!" With that outburst, KT found herself rushing forward and clamping a hand down over Amber's mouth. Even with KT's hand on her mouth, Amber still glared up at her with hate. "It's not like I even want to do this, anyway," KT muttered, stepping back and looking at Amber with regret. The princess had been about to shout some nasty comment, but she paused. "Then why are you doing this?"

Amber saw KT tense up, then dart toward the door of the apartment and out into the hallway. Amber sighed. "Great, now I'm alone," she said sarcastically, straining in a vain attempt to remove the rope from around her wrists. She groaned and gave up, shifting to a more comfortable position.

Suddenly, the apartment door opened and Amber looked up to see a dark-haired boy enter. He looked at her apologetically and knelt in front of her so he was about the same level as her. He shivered as he noticed how cold the floor was, a fact that Amber was already very aware of. "I'm sorry about her," he began, obviously speaking for the girl who had rushed out. "She really doesn't want to hurt you and neither do I, but he'll hurt us if we don't," he explained. Amber was beginning to understand what was going on, and she didn't like it. "Who is he?" She gulped.

"Just a man," he answered, "We don't know who he is." Amber sighed again. There was an awkward moment of silence, and then the boy began to fill the silence with his life story. His parents had died when he was a little kid, so he was raised by his uncle Ade. Ade was in an interesting business, but it didn't make much profit. When the boy had moved away, he didn't have much to live on. He worked as a scribe, mostly. Then, he met the foreign girl and fell in love. She was a criminal, but this made a decent income. Sometimes, he would help her plan out her jobs. Now, they were in some deep trouble. A mysterious man had threatened to hurt them both if they didn't kill Amber.

Amber winced. "I'm sorry," she said, feeling sympathy for the poor couple. The boy, who had said that she could call him Fabian, shook his head. "It's not your fault."

* * *

><p>"This is all your fault!" The small, dark-skinned girl screamed at her tall, blond partner, making him wince and give an apologetic glance toward their guests. The girl proceeded to list all the things that were supposedly his fault.<p>

Patricia and Joy looked at each other and then back at the couple, waiting patiently to be acknowledged. Eventually, the girl stopped her verbal abuse and turned to face them, smiling naturally. "Um...you guys _are _bounty hunters, right?" Joy's question was directed at the girl, because the boy had went into another room to check on something. The girl nodded. "Oh, yes. Mara Jaffray and Jerome Clarke, at your service," she said, "I'm Mara." She looked at them expectantly.

"Oh, um, we need your help finding someone," Patricia said. Mara nodded, considering this. She didn't question them about who they were or why they were there. "What can you pay us?"

Joy dug the wad of cash out of her pocket and gave it to Mara. The bounty hunter examined the money and nodded. Her partner, Jerome, came back into the main room of the apartment. She rolled her eyes when she saw him. "Boyfriends," she muttered. To Patricia, it seemed like Mara didn't really appreciate her boyfriend.

Patricia quickly explained the situation to Mara and Jerome. Their faces stayed emotionless. "We should be able to find the princess. We have connections in the underworld, like Willow Jenks, Alfie Lewis and that guy getting surgery," Jerome said. Mara nodded. "Oh, yes, I'm happy for him. He'll finally be in the right body," she added. Patricia and Joy looked at each other, then back at Mara and Jerome again.

"The four of us will make a great team," Mara said, sounding way more confident than Patricia felt.

* * *

><p>The next morning, when Patricia and Joy arrived at Mara and Jerome's apartment, Mara seemed excited and her boyfriend was nowhere to be found. It seemed like these two facts were related. Quickly, Mara explained that they had asked around the underworld and made a discovery. KT Rush, a criminal that had been hired by a mysterious man recently to kill an important political figure, lived in the same apartment building as Mara and Jerome. She lived with her boyfriend on a higher floor. She was Suspect Number One. Jerome was already upstairs, snooping around the place.<p>

Patricia was about to comment on something when Jerome entered, a troubled expression on his face. "I think you guys might want to see this," he said, avoiding eye contact with all three of them.

The quartet made their way upstairs and Jerome gestured so they knew what to do: Put an ear against the door. They each found a spot to do so and did. The voices on the other side were muffled, but Patricia could clearly distinguish four voices. Three seemed fearful and one was threatening. She put a hand on her hip and touched the grip of her gun. Glancing at Joy, Patricia could see that her partner had done the same. Mara noticed this and bit her bottom lip in anticipation. Patricia and Joy nodded simultaneously, then they both kicked the door with immense power. The door, which was a flimsy thing anyway, fell of its hinges, revealing a scene that scared the quartet of saviors thoroughly.

Amber was kneeling on the ground, her hands bound behind her back. She was staring helplessly up at a hooded man. Next to her, KT was standing with tears streaming down her face.

When the door burst open, the hooded man turned around, forcefully making his captive do the same. Fabian struggled, trying to escape the larger man's grasp on his arm, but he failed. Patricia and Joy had their guns raised and pointed at the hooded man. Mara and Jerome stood behind them.

The man's face was revealed, because this hood only covered his head, not his face. Patricia recognized him as some prominent businessman who profited from wars. "Put him down," Patricia ordered. The man, who didn't have a weapon, ducked his head behind Fabian's, using him as a shield. "Surely you don't want to kill an innocent young boy," he taunted. Patricia turned around to look at Jerome and pointed to the open window behind the hooded man. It was a fire escape. Jerome nodded, and he and Mara were soon gone, on their way to the fire escape. The man had not noticed this.

Meanwhile, Joy realized that she needed to stall for time. "I don't want to kill him," she confessed to the man, "Please let him go." She could hear the man laugh, a harsh, barking sound that made her wince. "You're stupid," he snapped. Patricia was tempted to rush at the man for such an insult to Joy's intelligence, but one stern look from Joy held her back. It was clear to Patricia, in that moment, that Joy loved her just as she loved Joy.

Patricia and Joy kept stalling, allowing Jerome and Mara to quietly climb through the open window. KT and Amber, who had been staring at the scene in shock, were moved by Mara to sit as far away from the action as possible. Jerome, on the other hand, went straight to the hooded man and tore him away from Fabian, throwing him to the ground and then restraining him. Patricia rushed over with a pair of handcuffs and helped to cuff him. Joy helped Fabian recover as Mara and KT untied Amber. The princess looked so relieved.

* * *

><p>Needless to say, the princess was beyond happiness when she saw her parents. She ran across the throne room and practically jumped into her father's arms. Her mother was in tears. "Please don't be so harsh on KT and Fabian, Father," Amber pleaded, hugging him tighter, "They're victims, too." The mentioned couple shifted nervously. The king glanced at them and nodded. "They will be pardoned," he said, then pointed to the hooded man, who was still handcuffed and lying on the floor of the throne room. "This one will be put to death." Everyone in the room looked relieved.<p>

Prince Mick bursted into the room and Amber ran to him. She hugged him tightly. "Oh, Mick!" Mick was crying and hugging her passionately back. "I can't believe that I actually missed you and your horrible nickname for me!"

"Babe?"

Joy giggled and rolled her eyes.

After the hooded man was dragged away and Eddie Miller and Nina Martin left to escort their fellow foreigner, KT Rush, and her boyfriend back to their apartment, the king turned his attention to Mara and Jerome. "You two shall be rewarded greatly," he said. Mara nodded and Jerome seemed a bit too happy, in Patricia's opinion. Maybe if she had an ungrateful girlfriend, she would get excited over the idea of money too. Speaking of girlfriends...

Later, in the tiny room that they shared, Patricia felt that she had to talk to Joy. "Joy, how do you feel about Eddie and other people you flirt with?" Joy paused in her movements; she had been brushing her hair. Joy rolled her eyes. "Really, Trixie? We just saved Amber and two other people. Why do you want to talk about my flirting?" Patricia winced. "I just..." Her voice trailed off.

"You're jealous," Joy stated, answering her own question. Patricia blinked, blushed and nodded. Joy stood up and approached her. She leaned down so her face was even with Patricia's, then kissed her forehead lightly. "No one can replace you, Trixie."


End file.
